The Extra Who Inherited Ragnarok

By the time the afternoon classes ended, Noah had developed a serious appreciation for comfortable chairs.

He dropped into one near the windows of the student lounge and stretched his arms.

Eric took the seat opposite him.

"You’re getting lazy."

Noah stared at him. "We trained for two hours this morning."

"Exactly. You should be getting stronger, not complaining."

"Then you can do tomorrow’s training twice."

Eric immediately looked away.

"I never said anything."

Sophia laughed from the couch. Luna was busy examining the menu for the evening meal, while Damien reviewed the notes he’d taken during Combat Theory.

Laura sat near the window with her book open.

For a while, the lounge remained peaceful.

Then Maria Billu appeared at the entrance with Zelen Kane, Zane Nomid, and Torino.

Maria spotted Squad Seven and approached their table.

"Good. You’re all here."

Eric straightened. "That sounds suspicious."

"It’s an invitation."

"More suspicious."

Maria ignored him and looked at Noah.

"Squad One wants to arrange a joint training session with you."

Noah raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because we finished first in the evaluation, and you finished second."

Zelen folded his arms. "We want to see whether those results hold up outside the evaluation."

"Zelen means he wants to beat you," Zane added.

"I said what I said."

Torino glanced at Noah. "A controlled match between squads would give both teams useful experience."

Damien closed his notebook.

"That actually sounds reasonable."

Eric was already standing.

"Agreed. When?"

Maria grinned. "Tomorrow afternoon."

Noah looked around at his teammates.

Sophia seemed interested. Luna nodded enthusiastically, and Laura marked her place in her book before closing it.

"Tomorrow works," Laura said.

Noah turned back to Maria.

"All right. We’ll do it."

"Great." Maria started toward the exit, but paused. "One condition."

Eric narrowed his eyes. "There it is."

"No excuses about being tired."

Noah smiled.

"Only if you promise not to make any when you lose."

Maria laughed.

"Deal."

Squad One departed, leaving Eric practically vibrating with anticipation.

"We’re winning tomorrow."

Sophia gave him a patient look. "You haven’t even seen their formation."

"Doesn’t matter."

"It matters quite a lot," Damien replied.

Eric pointed at Noah. "Tell them."

Noah leaned back in his chair.

"We should study their strengths before deciding how to approach the match."

Eric’s expression fell.

"You sound like Damien."

"That’s because Damien is right."

"Unbelievable."

The group laughed, but Noah’s attention had already shifted toward the upcoming challenge.

Squad One had shown excellent coordination during the evaluation. Maria’s ranged attacks were effective, Zelen fought aggressively, and Torino seemed capable of reading a battlefield quickly.

They wouldn’t be easy opponents.

That was precisely why Noah wanted the match.

He didn’t need another crisis to test his progress. He could learn something from a simple training exercise, provided he took it seriously.

"Tomorrow morning," he said, looking at his squad, "we’ll review our formation and work out a few strategies."

Laura nodded. "And we’ll need to prepare for Maria’s ranged attacks."

"Zelen will probably try to break through our front line," Damien added.

Sophia considered that. "Which means we can’t let them separate us."

Luna smiled. "Sounds like we have a plan."

"An unfinished plan," Noah corrected. "We’ll see what happens when we actually face them."

Outside the windows, the afternoon sun slipped behind Valhalla’s towers.

For Squad Seven, the day had begun with ordinary classes and ended with a new challenge.

Nothing dangerous.

Nothing world-ending.

Just a friendly match between two freshman squads.

Noah found himself looking forward to it.

Tomorrow, they would discover how much their training had really accomplished.

And he intended to give Squad One a proper fight.

Noah arrived at the training grounds before the morning bell.

He found Damien standing beside a board covered with notes.

Noah stopped.

"How long have you been here?"

"Twenty minutes."

"Why?"

Damien pointed at the board.

"Because Eric suggested we should beat Squad One, and I decided someone needed to make sure we had an actual plan."

Noah examined the notes.

Damien had listed the abilities and tendencies they had observed during the freshman evaluation. Maria’s ranged attacks were their most obvious concern, but the notes also mentioned Zelen’s aggressive fighting style and Torino’s habit of watching opponents before committing to an attack.

"Where’s Zane?" Noah asked.

"Still haven’t figured out his preferred role. He spent most of the evaluation supporting the others."

Noah nodded thoughtfully.

That made Zane potentially more important than he appeared.

"Good work."

Damien looked mildly surprised by the praise.

"Thanks."

The rest of Squad Seven arrived shortly afterward. Eric came first, carrying two wooden swords. Sophia followed, while Luna and Laura arrived together.

Eric examined Damien’s board.

"That’s a lot of writing."

"It’s called preparation."

"I prefer improvisation."

"That’s why we need preparation."

Noah stepped between them before the argument could develop.

"Let’s start with what we know."

He pointed toward Maria’s name.

"She’ll probably stay at range unless forced to move. We need to prevent her from freely targeting our front line."

Laura considered the problem.

"I can interfere with her attacks, but I can’t spend the entire match protecting everyone."

"Then we shouldn’t make you," Sophia replied. "We need to create openings ourselves."

Damien tapped the board.

"Zelen is aggressive. If we encourage him to advance too far, we might separate him from the others."

Eric smiled.

"Finally, something I like."

"You’re not chasing him across the field," Noah warned.

Eric’s smile vanished.

"Why not?"

"Because that’s exactly what he’d want."

Luna laughed.

Eric looked betrayed.

Noah continued before the conversation wandered off course.

"We don’t need to defeat them individually. We need to work better together than they do."

That earned a nod from Laura.

They spent the next hour testing different approaches. Their first attempt fell apart when Eric advanced too quickly. The second failed because Sophia moved to cover him, leaving Luna exposed. On the third attempt, they managed to maintain their formation but couldn’t create an opening against a simulated ranged attack.

Nobody was particularly pleased.

Which meant they had work to do.

By the time the session ended, their movements had improved, although the strategy remained unfinished.

Noah wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

"We’ll continue tomorrow."

Eric stared at him.

"Tomorrow? The match is tomorrow."

"Exactly. We shouldn’t exhaust ourselves before it starts."

Eric opened his mouth, thought about it, and reluctantly nodded.

"Fine."

As they collected their equipment, Noah noticed Maria standing near the training hall entrance.

She had apparently arrived early for her own practice.

Their eyes met.

"Preparing for tomorrow?" she asked.

"Trying to."

Maria smiled.

"Good. We are too."

She glanced at Damien’s board before looking back at Noah.

"You know, you don’t have to treat a friendly match like a military operation."

Noah shrugged.

"You don’t have to treat every conversation like a competition."

Maria laughed.

"Fair enough."

She headed toward her training area, leaving Noah with a curious feeling.

He couldn’t tell whether Maria was simply confident or whether Squad One had something planned.

Perhaps neither mattered.

Tomorrow wasn’t about proving who deserved first place.

It was about discovering what each squad could do when the outcome wasn’t predetermined by an evaluation system.

Noah picked up his bag.

"Come on. Let’s get breakfast."

Eric immediately brightened.

"Finally, a strategy I understand."

Squad Seven left the training grounds together.

Their preparations weren’t perfect, and their chances of winning remained uncertain.

But Noah felt better about their position than he had the day before.

They were learning to plan, adapt, and trust each other’s judgment.

Tomorrow, they would find out whether that was enough.